


Sleepy Spider

by Yousaydoctorisaywho



Category: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Hurt Peter Parker, Iron Dad, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, Peter Parker gets hurt, Protective Tony Stark, Sassy Peter Parker, Sleep Deprivation, Tired Peter Parker, Tony Stark Has A Heart, peter parker needs sleep, spiderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-17
Updated: 2018-08-19
Packaged: 2019-06-28 18:50:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15713001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yousaydoctorisaywho/pseuds/Yousaydoctorisaywho
Summary: Sleep deprivation should really be taken seriously; especially when you're Peter Parker and being Spider-Man requires sleep. Otherwise, you get into an alleyway fight and things go downhill from there.ORThe one where Peter thinks he can handle being a hero while being sleep deprived and is sorely mistaken.





	1. Sleep

School, friends, family, Mr. Stark, Spider-man duties, homework; it’s a lot. It takes the anxiety harboring inside your body and lights it up like a match and we are the moth, flocking to it in curiosity before it suddenly burns you and your trapped in it. But then, sometimes, there comes rage; blinding rage that covers up the reality to the point where you don’t realize what you’ve done until it’s too late… at least, that’s how Peter is viewing it. His senses lately were as if it was the sound bar in a radio, turned up to max. It started off small when he had gone patrolling quite late, resulting in Mr. Stark scolding him over the phone after being alerted by Karen he was violating ‘Nighty Night Peter’ protocol. The next day he regretted staying out late and when he rolled over to get his phone and turn off his alarm, he was greeted with a cocky text from Mr. Stark saying: “How you feeling, kid? XD”. He was very tempted at blocking him for that text, but he was going to be late and just threw his phone into his backpack. Then came the walk into school, in which Flash tried to hit Peter several times and due to the lack of sleep, his instincts were a second too slow. The first punch came to his right shoulder, throwing him off balance and he tumbled into another kid in his class; unfortunately, that person was one of Flash’s buddies.

“Sorry, it was an accident.” Peter basically muttered.

“Watch it, Penis, or I might accidentally shove you into a locker.” He hissed in reply, shoving him towards Flash.

Flash moved last minute, and Peter tumbled right into the locker, dropping his books in reply. Peter took a shuddering breath as he blinked repeatedly, trying to wake himself up. God, why did he stay out so late? He made a deal with Mr. Stark with curfews and he tried to follow them; really, he did, but sometimes one criminal leads to another and half the time consists of him having a verbal battle with them, so he loses track of time. Now, not only does he have to deal with Mr. Stark later, but right now school is going to be a tough battle. He stood up slowly, gathering his books when a hand clapped his back, making him drop the books: again. Great.

“Hey Peter!” Ned, his best friend, decided to shout with a grin.

“Ned, really?” Peter snapped standing back up with his books securely in his arms. “Don’t sneak up on me like that.”

Ned’s smile faded into a frown. “Sorry, I didn’t- I didn’t do it on purpose. I was going to see if you wanted to, I don’t know, binge watch the Alien movies tonight?”

Peter grimaced at how he reacted to Ned and let out a sigh, glancing at his friend. “I’m sorry Ned, I got, like, zero sleep last night and I guarantee Mr. Stark is going to have me work a lot today and be all smug and then I have patrol and- “

“Dude.” Ned interrupted with a smirk, planting a hand on Peter’s shoulder. “I get it, you got a lot of stuff to do.” Ned shook his head with a bigger smile. “Now I can at least call you the bigger nerd for once, so I forgive you this time.”

Peter smiled tiredly in thanks, opening his locker to grab his pencil case and then shutting it afterwards, walking away from Ned without a goodbye; well he was going to, but he forgot- he’s been doing that a lot lately… forgetting, that is. He forgets the most simple things, like saying goodbye or eating breakfast: shit did he forget to eat AGAIN? He really has to get better with that. But now he keeps getting more and more tired. Today, though, was one of the most difficult days. He didn’t really get why today it was so difficult to focus. The other days he was mainly just tired and had issues with completing some of the schoolwork; Aunt May ended up receiving a call she never thought she would have to receive. Peter walked the rest of the way to class, eyes drooped and dreading whatever today had in store for him.  
Lunch came quickly, and Peter managed to make it to one of the tables before he just slumped forward, his forehead hitting the table with a clunk. He had to eat but he just wanted to sleep…. Ah, sleep, Peter’s best friend. But daydreaming about sleep was quickly interrupted by Ned, sliding a tray over to Peter and then sitting across from him.

“Peter are you okay?” Ned asked, concern etched across his face. “Is it,” Ned looked around before leaning across the table in a whisper. “Spider-man related?”

Peter dragged a hand down his face and just shook his head. “No, Ned, nothing to do with that. I just haven’t been sleeping.”

“Why not?” Ned questioned, biting into his sandwich. “Is Mr. Stark giving you too much to do or something? Everything okay with May?”

Peter shook his head, nibbling at his chips. “No everything at home is fine, I’ve just been having a lot to do, and I just forget to sleep. It’s not that big of a deal.”

Ned frowned. “Peter you have to sleep though, why don’t you skip patrol some days?”

At that comment, Peter finally looked up with his eyes wide and concerned. “I can’t do that! Do you understand how much crime is going on every night? One night without patrol and people die, I can’t let that happen, you know?”

Ned bit the inside of his cheek and just nodded. “Yeah I get it, but you can’t protect people if you’re, you know, using your mashed potatoes as a place to rest your elbow.”

Peter winced and looked down where his sweater was now partially white. “Good point.”

“Dude for real though, maybe there is another super hero out there that can, you know, watch over the city while you rest?” Ned pondered, handing Peter a napkin. “I mean if I was a super hero, I would totally help you out.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t think anybody would be will- “

“Wait,” Ned interrupted, eyes wide with wonder. “If I was a superhero I think I would want to be bitten too, you know? Cause then I can have an army like you have an army of spiders!”

Peter frowned, the bags under his eyes crinkling. “Ned, I already told you I don’t- “

“Maybe I could be insect man.” Ned gasped before he quickly pointed at Peter. “What about, like, Ant Man!”

“There’s already an Ant Man.” Peter said with a sigh.

A laugh bubbled out of Ned’s mouth suddenly. “Are you kidding me? Dude that’s so lame.”

Peter smiled softly as he yawned. “Don’t let him hear that, he has this weird talent of turning huge and then smacking people around.”

“Wait were you beat up by Ant Man? Did he, I don’t know, send an army of ants to attack you? Cause if that happened to me, I would just step on them you know?” Ned commented. He picked up a couple of Peter’s chips that came with his lunch and chewed on them as he waited for Peter to respond.

“Ned?”

“Yeah?”

“Why are we still talking about this?”

Ned stopped chewing momentarily as he realized that he completely changed the subject. “Sorry, you know that I get excited considering my best friend is a hero.”

Peter shook his head fondly. “It’s alright. I just gotta rest but still keep up on my work.”

“Peter that’s easier said than done.” Ned responded, his face portraying anxiety for his friend. 

He knew that, but part of him thought he could handle it; okay that’s a complete lie he knew he couldn’t handle it but sometimes being stubborn wins against Peter. “I’ll see you later, alright?”

“Peter- “

“Bye, Ned.” Peter responded, standing up and grabbing his sandwich as he walked out of the cafeteria.

The rest of the school day went by without too many issues. Sure, he fell asleep four times and got yelled at five times (Flash decided to throw something at Peter’s head and in response, Peter shouted at him). So, okay it did have some issues but it’s fine. He’s fine… mostly. Peter left his last class in a hurry when a shout rang down the hall.

“PENIS!” Peter tensed up and all his senses were on alert as he started to walk quicker. “Hey, did you not hear me, PENIS?” Before he could make it to the parking lot, a hand gripped him and pushed him forward. Due to his delayed instincts, he fell flat on his face. “Next time I shout your name, why don’t you answer?”

“’m sorry, couldn’t hear you over your ass talking.” Peter grumbled, mouth breathing out against the asphalt. 

There was a growl before a sharp pain erupted through his ribs. “You better watch yourself, or next time you’re going to hurt even worse.”

Peter decided to keep quiet and heard the footsteps fade before getting up slowly, wincing at the pain in his side. Eh, it’ll heal soon. He began his walk home when a text made his phone buzz in his pocket.

Iron Dad: Hey kid, you coming over or not? I made way too much popcorn and there isn’t a Spider-Kid here to eat more than half of it.

Peter smiled and let out a grimace as he responded

Me: Yeah sorry, I forgot and started walking home, but I can quickly suit up and head over.

Iron Dad: Perfect, I’ll put on Indiana Jones or Star Wars?

Me: It better be Star Wars :P

Iron Dad: Nerd.

Peter chuckled and yawned again before turning into an alleyway and began taking off his clothes to change into the suit. He’s gotten faster but he kept tripping and losing his balance every five seconds; at one point his arm was through the collar with his head. He started to swing around the city, eyes moving sluggishly as the lights of the city seemed to be getting brighter. He blinked it away when the pain erupted in his side again. He gasped and suddenly his chest was smacking into the building. 

“Are you kidding me?” Peter grumbled to himself as he sent his webbing to the top of the building and pulled himself up.

Before he could even take a breath, there was shouting from the other side of the building. Great. He had been hoping he would just go to Mr. Stark’s house, crawl under the blankets, watch five minutes of the movie, and then pass out. Reality though likes to have painful reminders of what he has to do. Crawling over to the other side, he peered over and saw a man in baggy jeans and a long-sleeved green shirt, holding a gun that’s pointed at another man. Peter sighed out loud and watched as the criminal started talking.

“…and you thought you could, what, walk away? Without paying your side of the deal? I don’t think s-so.” The man with the gun shouted. But it was obvious to Peter, the guy was nervous, with his arms shaking and voice cracking. 

The other man, wearing a short sleeve blue shirt and sweatpants, had his hands up, confusion across his face. “But I did! I swear, I did. Tell Johnny I did I don’t want to- “

“You know,” Peter interrupted, jumping down from the building and sticking to the side of the wall directly above the other man. “the last time I didn’t pay for something, I didn’t have a gun pointed at me, just a bit of scolding.”

The man wielding the gun turned the gun towards peter, arm shaking. “Who the hell are you?”

Peter gasped mockingly. “Don’t swear at me!” At that moment he felt fine, but a wave of dizziness suddenly hit him, causing Peter to fall off the wall and land next to the other man. “Well that was convenient.”

The guy took a shuddering breath and lifted the gun again, pointing it at the other man. “I don’t give a s-shit, Spider-Boy! This has nothing to do with you, so walk away before you get h-hurt.”

“I’m not leaving so you can shoot this guy- “Peter began, raising his hands up in surrender. 

But the blue shirted man interrupted, face now angry. “You can’t shoot me if I paid the damn money Nick!”

“You DIDN’T pay! If you had I wouldn’t be her- “

“Go home and ask again you idio- “

The comment was cut off by a sudden bang. Peter seemed to be stuck in slow motion as he watched the bullet leave the gun, heading directly towards the helpless man. Think, Peter, think on your instincts. But, in his sleep deprived state, the most he could do was push the man out of the way and take the bullet. Pain erupted right through his side, not nicking him but actually going through his left side. He screamed but he heard no noise come out of his mouth as he fell down. Geez, his instincts are bad. 

“…shit. You just shot Spider-man! Nick, what the hell man. Don’t you get that- “

A second bang echoed through the alleyway and through his pain-filled gaze, he saw a blue shirt fall to the ground in a thud. Peter cried out, screaming ‘no’. Tears fell down his face as the ringing in his ears persisted. The pain was unbearable and now, he had just watched another man die. He drifted his eyes again and looked up to see Nick, eyes wide and terrified as his hand shook so badly the gun fell down and hit the asphalt. 

“I said walk away…” Nick said, his voice seeming far away as it mixed with the ringing in his ears. “Or you would get hurt.” That was the last he said as he turned on his heel and walked away, hands shaking. 

Peter bit his lip as a sob threatened to leave this throat. He moved his hand slowly to his side, feeling liquid warmth soak his hand. He squeezed his eyes shut, tears streaming down, as pain again went through his side.

“Peter?” Karen’s voice spoke through his head. “I am detecting spikes in your heart rate and you seem to be in a lot of pain. Due to protocol, I must alert Mr. Stark.”

“N-no, he’ll be mad.” Peter slurred out as his vision seemed to be getting darker.

“Hey kid, so, since you decided to take a half hour, the popcorn is now all in my stomach and I blame you so- “

“M’ster Stark.” Peter nearly whispered out, his lip quivering. “I’m in trouble.”

“Pete? Alright, what happened kid, you gotta let me know. Where are you right now?” Tony’s voice crackled, the sounds of him moving around quickly in his complex.

Peter looked around slowly, head lolling around. “I… I don’t know, I’m sorry Mr. Stark but, God” Peter let out a sob as he saw the blue shirted man right next to him. “H-he died and it’s m-my fault, dad… Mr. Stark, I didn’t want- It’s just like Uncle Ben, I killed someone again.” Peter lifted his hand and saw the blood covering his hand. “I could’ve stopped it if I hadn’t gotten s-shot- “

“YOU WHAT?” Tony’s voice shouted in worry. “Peter, alright listen I’m tracking your suit and I will be there as fast as I can, but you got to keep pressure on your wound, okay?” The sound of the Iron Man suit blasted through Peter’s comm.

“Just like Uncle Ben… I could’ve, I wanted to- he’s dead. I can’t keep doing this.” Peter whispered, returning his bloody hand to his side and applying pressure, hissing out loud.

“Peter you got to focus, don’t you dare fall asleep on me, I can tell by the tone of your voice.” Tony spoke calmly as Peter’s eyes started to drift close.

“I’m sorry.” Peter practically whispered, as his eyes shut, pain spreading through his body as Mr. Stark shouted his name.


	2. Awake

Peter didn’t know what he expected when he woke up: silence or sirens. Sirens ended up winning the round as he opened his eyes and saw flashing blue and red lights and somebody yelling.

“You think I care?! That’s my kid over there so I’m taking him with me.” A gruff male voice yelled.

“Mr. Stark,” another voice answered, “I’m sorry but he’s lost too much blood and to have him travel through air can result in a lot more damage.”

Peter opened his eyes more and noticed he was on a stretcher and Mr. Stark was standing face to face with one of the EMTs, his face showing raw fury.

“I am well aware of that so let my people get here first and take him. He isn’t going to a regular hospital, Doctor Jensen.” Tony gritted out.

“Mr. Stark you can come with us in the ambulance if you want, but if we don’t get him to the hospital, get the bullet out, and stitch him up, he can die.” Jensen responded, eyes narrowed.

Peter stared at Tony as he inhaled aggressively. He pinched the bridge of his nose and then threw his hands up. “Fine. You know what? Fine. But I’m telling you now that I’m getting one of my doctors, Bruce Banner, to come down and assist in the surgery. You’re not going to fight me on this considering you’re taking him away from me. It would’ve been fine if you had just left us as we were but now, you’re going to play by my rules.”

Doctor Jensen straightened up and Peter saw his hands tense up and then release before rolling his eyes and walking towards him. Tony followed him and suddenly Peter was face to face with his mentor, just like he wanted. 

“M’stah Stark?” Peter croaked out, hand slowly shifting towards him.

Tony met him halfway and grabbed his hand. “Hey kiddo, listen buddy- “

“I know,” Peter whispered. “Regular hospital.”

Tony nodded and huffed angrily. “I swear I could easily hijack the ambulance and take us to the right place. But, I’m glad you’re okay and they had medical equipment. You’re bleeding pretty badly, Pete. Sorry, I would sugar coat it, but you ditched me on movie night to get shot.”

Peter grinned and laughed quietly. “Sorry I ditched you, won’t h’ppen again.”

Tony smoothed down Peter’s curls as they moved the stretcher into the ambulance. “Alright you chatter box, you gotta take a break from talking, it’s straining your injury.”

Peter nodded and suddenly his hand moved to his face. “Wait; my mask- where is it? Mr. Stark, they- do they know? I- “

“Kid,” Tony said calmly, grabbing his hand away from his face. “Stop panicking. They had to take it off for medical reasons, but they signed paperwork and can’t say anything about who you are. So, don’t panic and just get better so I can yell at you properly.”

Peter nodded and let the darkness take over him again once more. The next time he woke up, he felt a warmth next to him. Opening his eyes slowly, he looked up and saw Mr. Stark, reading glasses on as he shifted through papers. Staying quiet he realized that he was laying on his back and Mr. Stark was laying down next to him, his right leg dangling off the bed since Peter took up most of it. How long had he stayed with Peter? Had the surgery gone well? Peter looked up into Tony’s eyes and saw that there were laugh lines yet there was so much… hurt in them. He was healing and now Peter had gone and gotten himself hurt probably worrying him even more and oh no he just made him feel wors-

“You know, kid,” Tony spoke softly. “You could talk instead of staring at me, even though I am quite handsome.”

Peter blinked owlishly and just smiled lightly. “Sorry, I was studying your face.” Wait. Did he just admit that out loud, “I’m not weird! Mr. Stark, I promise… how long have I been out?”

Tony put down his papers and stared down at Peter with the most intense gaze ever. “Peter I’m going to ask you something and I can’t have you lie to me. 1. I will know and 2. You don’t want to be in any more trouble.” Peter nodded with a frown. “Have you been sleeping?”

Peter’s eyes drifted away from Tony’s unwavering one and bit his lip. “Well… uh, kinda?”

“Peter.”

“… no.” Peter said, his voice barely a whisper. “I’ve been trying to but every time I would have time to sleep, I needed to do something else. Whether it be working for you- which Mr. Stark I still appreciate so much and I love working for you and- “

Tony grinned and moved his arm to ruffle his hair. “Aw, got a crush?”

“Shut up.” Peter said with a laugh but winced when it pulled at his stitches. “I… I wasn’t taking care of myself, and I’m aware of that, trust me… but when I can do the things I do, I don’t have time, Mr. Stark.”

“Kid,” Tony interrupted, shifting so he could make direct eye contact with Peter. “How can you help anybody if you can’t even help yourself?” Tony took a moment and patted one of Peter’s hands. “Kid, I barely sleep and it’s not fun. You lose balance, you can’t focus, you’re forgetful, and everything is just a little more worse than normal. But you’re young, kid, and on top of that you’re a superhero.” Tony shifted in his seat, so he could sit on one of his legs. The other one stayed dangling as he looked closer at the younger boy. “You’ve been asleep for three days, kiddo. You scared me really badly and if you do that again, I might have a heart attack.”

Peter stared at Tony in shock. “three… three days? Are you kidding me?”

“Yep,” Tony responded, popping the ‘p’. “Why do you think I’ve been staying by your side the whole time?”

Peter went silent for a moment, playing with the edge of his blanket. “Do they know?”

The older man frowned in confusion as he watched Peter’s hands. “Know what, kiddo?”

“That I’m… Spider-Man. I know they took off my mask when they found me and- “Peter suddenly tensed up and the machine connected him began to beep, his heart rate escalating. “Oh God, the guy- the man w-with the blue shirt.” Peter’s eyes got wider as Tony grabbed his hands. “He died, right in front of me and- I couldn’t stop it! I took the first bullet for him, but I was so stupid; I forgot to grab the gun.”

“Peter.” Tony said calmly, squeezing his hands. “You need to breathe body. I’m going to lay down next to you okay? And you’re going to- don’t make fun of me- you’re gonna lay your head on my chest and match my breathing.”

Peter’s chest moved up and down rapidly as tears welled up in his eyes. “I killed him, I-I messed up, like Uncle Ben.”

“No.” Tony said flatly, gently maneuvering Peter to put his head on his chest. “You didn’t kill your uncle, you didn’t kill the blue shirted man either. You tried to save both of them and I’m sorry, Pete, but you can’t save everyone.”

Peter shook slightly as his head contacted the broad chest of his mentor. “B-but I want to. I… I need to save everyone cause who else will? I’m watching out for the little guy… and I couldn’t even do that.” Peter took a shuddering breath as he desperately listened to the hum of Tony’s heartbeat. “After… after Uncle Ben, I promised myself that I; that I would never kill and if I could, in any way, stop somebody else from killing, I would.”

“And you did that, Pete.” Tony mumbled, carding his fingers through his hair. “You stopped the bullet from killing that guy earlier and honestly? That’s pretty badass. You’re a hero Pete, okay?”

Peter didn’t respond as his breathing leveled out and he fell asleep once more. Two hours later, he woke up to the sound of hushed voices.

“…in a couple hours or so. Not that you all aren’t great doctors, but I want him to be checked out at my facilities.” Tony mumbled, hands still massaging Peter’s scalp. “I already filled out the paperwork so once you’re done with the final check, we’ll be leaving.”

Peter shifted slightly and blinked up at Tony. “Final check?”

Tony looked down in a jerky motion and smiled. “Yeah, they got to make sure your stitches are all good and make sure you’re not in too much pain. I took a peak at your injury while you were asleep, and your healing factor seems to be taking better care of you then you take care of yourself.”

The spider rolled his eyes in fond amusement. “I know… Tony how did you tell May?”

Tony was silent for a moment as he shifted in the hospital bed. “She didn’t believe me at first when I said you were shot and when she did she immediately got a cab and got to the compound. I told her to stay there since we’re leaving today, and she can see you then. I also did that, so I can yell at you in the car without her butting in and doing parenting better than me.”

“Parenting, huh?” Peter said with a wide grin as Tony’s eyes widened.

“I didn’t- no, you see- “

“Dad, don’t worry I feel the same.” Peter said with a laugh, nudging his mentor in the side. Even with a comment as small as that, Peter watched as the tension left his shoulders.

“Alright kid, you win that round.” Tony grumbled.

They left shortly thereafter, and true to his word, the second they sat down in the car, Tony let loose everything he had wanted to say.

“So, where do you want me to start?”

Peter looked over in confusion. “Start with what?”

Tony took out his sunglasses and slipped them on, turning to look at the boy sternly. “With scolding. Do you want to start with you not sleeping or perhaps the fact you dove in front of a bullet? It’s quite honestly up to you. I personally would love to yell about how you don’t go in front of a gun but it’s your choice.”

Peter was silent for a moment and looked down at his hands in fake interest. “I suppose the first one.”

“Right,” his mentor said, clearing his throat. “Sleep is really important, Pete, I said it once in the hospital and I know that you know I barely sleep, but I’m not running around after doing schoolwork. I’m also not young and have a lot to live for.”

Peter sat up straight at that and gasped at the older man. “You have so much to live for! Are you kidding- “

“Kid, it’s my turn right now. The adult is talking, okay?” Tony said, raising a hand up. “I get you have a lot to do and if you need to stop coming to the industry- stop, I know you don’t want to but if you’re about to fall asleep you gotta tell me.” Peter nodded in confirmation and bit his lip in worry. “Now, for the very fun talk of how you don’t step in front of bullets- “

“Mr. Stark in all fairness, I have a healing factor and that guy didn’t!” Peter cried out.

“Yes, but you could have just as easily pulled the gun away with your webs and saved yourself the trouble.” Tony responded, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Which even goes back to my rant of how you need to sleep. The point is, Peter, you got to watch out for yourself before you watch out for the little guy… deal?”

Peter watched as Tony extended his hand for Peter to shake. He stared at it for a moment, looked back up at his mentor and smiled before shaking it. “Deal.”


End file.
